12 Things

12 Things We Would Like You to Know About Our CATHOLIC FAITH

We are Christian: Jesus is the center of our Catholic faith. He calls all of us to a personal relationship with Him. There can be no salvation by any other name nor is there salvation any other way. Jesus alone is the way, the truth, and the life. He alone is the door to salvation.

We Revere the Bible: We believe the Bible is the infallible Word of God. We proclaim Sacred Scripture at every Mass. Many of our Catholic prayers come directly from the Bible. Sacred Scripture is incorporated into our lifelong religious education. We encourage all Catholics to study the Bible.

We Anticipate the Return of Jesus Christ: At every Mass, we proclaim our expectation that “Jesus Christ will come again in glory to judge the living and the dead and His kingdom will have no end”. We believe His second coming could happen at any moment.

We Believe in Prayer: We believe that prayer can and does change circumstances, lives and hearts. We continue to see countless, verifiable, miracles through the power of prayer. At every Mass, we faithfully pray the prayer that Jesus Himself taught us to pray - The Lord’s Prayer.

We Fail: We recognize that the Church is a hospital for sinners, not a hotel for saints. Unfortunately, there have been times where we have been our own worst enemy by our failures. We ask for forgiveness, we strive to make amends, correct our errors, and continue to proclaim the saving power of Jesus Christ. We work to lead a much greater number of those professing to be Catholic to have a true conversion experience and develop a personal relationship with Jesus Christ.

We Care: We do not believe that anyone can be saved by works. However, we believe true conversion to Jesus Christ by definition produces fruit. In the name of Jesus, the Catholic Church feeds, clothes, shelters, educates and provides medical care for more people than any other organization on earth.

Mary: We do not worship Mary, we honor her. She has no power in or of herself. Her only power comes from her son; Jesus Christ. We simply ask for her prayers as we ask for yours. With Christ as the new Adam, she fulfills the role of the new Eve. She was the ark of the New Covenant on earth. Every Marion devotional prayer points directly to Christ. To call her the Mother of God (God the Son) is a salutation of Jesus, not Mary. Just like us, she was a “created” being in need of salvation.

Communion of the Saints: We believe that dying does not separate Christians from the Body of Christ. Members of the Body of Christ care about and pray for one another. Those living here on earth and those with Jesus in heaven are all one eternal family. As people in need we simply ask those in heaven to pray for us who are still here on this earth.

The Sacraments: God created us as physical beings. He placed us in a physical world and provides graces for us physically, through the sacraments. Through the sacraments we are guaranteed an encounter with Christ. God didn’t need the Jordan River to cure Naaman. Jesus didn’t need mud to cure the blind man. Jesus doesn’t need the sacraments to deal with us. However, for us physical beings in a physical world He instituted physical means (sacraments) for our benefit.

The Mass: This is where we worship God in song, prayer, and scripture readings. The sum and summit of the Mass is a re-presentation to God of the eternal sacrifice that Jesus Christ made on the cross 2,000 years ago. It was His command to “do this in memory of Me.”

We are Consistent: Jesus said that He would establish His Church and protect it until the end of time. If His words are true then there could never have been a time from that day forward when His Church did not exist. We believe Jesus is our founder. The authority structure He established has helped His Church provide clear and consistent teaching down through the ages. Practices can change with the times, doctrine and God’s Word cannot.

Brotherhood: We believe in the brotherhood of humankind and that God desires all of us to be “our brother's keeper”. We also believe in the family of God. We believe that all who trust in Jesus Christ to be our Christian brothers and sisters. We believe those who worship our Lord in other Christian communities to be our separated brethren, but brethren none the less.

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Immaculate Conception of the Blessed Virgin Mary Catholic Church & St. Louise Chapel